A Dragon's Treasure
by dark insanity 13
Summary: Kirishima has a bad sleeping habit. Bakugou would like to get to the bottom of it. [Fantasy AU, rated for Bakugou's swearing]


Bakugou was fed up. He liked to think he had a lot of patience (though _for some reason_ everyone he met always said otherwise), especially when it came to dealing with the bullshit his travelling companions (read: annoying hangers-on that claimed to be his friends) produced on the day-to-day basis, but he was at his limit when it came to this. "This" being how every morning he would wake up piled together with Kaminari, Ashido, and Sero, while Kirishima had himself draped on top of the four of them. It really was ridiculous, because this happened _every single time_ they were out camping. It didn't matter if they all slept in different parts of the camp, or if Kirishima went to sleep before the rest of them, somehow at some point, they would all be moved and find themselves being squashed by the red-headed dragon shifter. Heck, if even any of them shared a room at an inn with him, they would inevitably wake up with Kirishima lying on top of them.

Of course, the only exception seemed to be when Kirishima needed to be in his dragon form, which was a saving grace because the fucker was heavy enough as a human; his dragon form would probably crush them all. Even still, they'd all wake to find themselves surrounded by dragon, Kirishima having curled his body around them protectively. Bakugou wouldn't ever admit it, but this was a much more favourable situation as Kirishima's dragon body was naturally warm and his scales rock solid, so it made for a practical defensive measure while they were vulnerable during sleep.

He'd voiced his complaints several times to the other three, but they would always shrug it off then subsequently threaten him with hugs and cuddles - to which his response was always a vehement "no", accompanied by a warning flare of his blast magic. The dunces usually laughed off his denials, though whether they made attempts on their threats depended on how brave they were feeling each day. He wondered why they didn't seem to have any problem with it, because they'd all had mornings where they'd woken up to Kirishima snoring in their face, and considering how loudly the shifter snored (that is, loud enough to nearly put his roar to shame if you asked Bakugou) and how often he drooled in his sleep, he thought that any of the three of them would find something about the situation worth confronting Kirishima about. Alas, the most fight they put up were the frequent complaints about his weight, and that was - at best - just playful teasing.

So one day Bakugou took it upon himself to question Kirishima about it, because really, it was annoying as hell.

"Kirishima, why the fuck do we wake up every morning piled under you?"

Kirishima at least had the decency to look embarrassed, grinning sheepishly at Bakugou. "Sorry, it's because I'm a dragon!"

Not much of an explanation, but it was something. Bakugou begrudgingly accepted it and didn't press further. Despite his reputation as a dragon rider, it was a reputation he'd gained mainly thanks to Kirishima being his long-time companion, and he didn't actually know all that much with regards to dragon habits besides what he heard from Kirishima and legends. Legends he tended to take with a grain of salt anyway, as Kirishima often liked to prove them wrong. For instance, there were the age-old tales about dragons hoarding gold and treasures in their caves, guarding their collections from all who may try to steal the riches for themselves. Related, there was also the idea that dragons would sleep upon their hoards. While Kirishima did in fact have a penchant for getting distracted and easily swayed by shiny, opulent objects, whenever their group collected bounties and rewards, he'd very rarely keep any of the loot for himself, usually offering to split his share amongst everyone else or giving it to someone he deemed more in need of it than himself. Then there was the whole matter of his sleeping habits, and while Kaminari had blonde hair like gold, none of them could really be considered rare or valuable like treasure. Having not met any other dragons (since they were a secretive bunch, with shifters like Kirishima being even more rare due to the dilution of magic over the generations), Bakugou could only assume that rumours were simply rumours and Kirishima was actually the norm.

"So what could be the reasoning for Kirishima always somehow piling them all together? Did dragon packs tend to sleep like that? Maybe it was a leftover instinct from when he was a nestling; perhaps gathering his friends together reminded him of when he was still being cared for by his parents or caretakers in his weyr, sleeping protected alongside his hatchmates. Kirishima had told him that when they'd first met, it had been some time since he had been separated by his weyr and had any company, so it wouldn't be outlandish if he subconsciously sought out some familiarity. Which Bakugou couldn't entirely fault him for, because sometimes he missed his home and family too, though he had left on his own accord and would absolutely deny missing them to the ends of the world if anyone ever asked him. Kirishima was much kinder and open-hearted than Bakugou (almost stupidly so), so it wasn't surprising that he'd do something so sentimental.

After months - almost years - of travelling, their group finally happened to stumble upon a dragon weyr. More accurately, they unwittingly ended up helping another dragon shifter by the name of Tetsutetsu, who as thanks offered to let them visit his weyr to see if anyone knew anything about Kirishima's. It was a unique opportunity for all of them; Sero, Ashido, and Kaminari chattered excitedly the entire way to the mountain range, somehow managing to talk amongst each other even while Kaminari and Ashido clung to Tetsutetsu's back as he and Sero rode on Kirishima (he would've appreciated if Sero shouted in his ear a little less, but no amount of yelling or threats to blast them off the dragons shut them up).

Tetsutetsu's home wasn't really anything to look at from the outside; all they could really see were a bunch of caves carved into the rock face, scattered about in no discernible pattern. But once they had landed at one of the caves and Tetsutetsu lead them inside, they were all amazed to find an entire elaborate network of caverns and tunnels, all making their way out from a massive hollowed out chamber in the near-centre of the mountain, lit up by natural luminescent stones and mosses as well as torches. Tetsutetsu and Kirishima had laughed at their stunned expressions, explaining that this sort of roost wasn't uncommon for weyrs and that Tetsutetsu's was in fact on the small side in terms of size and population.

As Tetsutetsu lead them through the maze with the intention of having them meet one of the elder dragons, Bakugou observed that dragons seemed to have very little concept of privacy when it came to others of their kind. He spotted what looked to be nests with parents watching over their young, completely out in the open for others to see and observe, as well as small hollows where other dragons dozed. It was fascinating as well as unnerving; how could anyone sleep and live in such a community where pretty much every aspect of your life was on display for others to see uninvited?

But as their group wandered further, he also began to notice something odd with the nests and sleeping chambers. Instead of twigs or soft downs, their bedding _glittered_. Closer observation revealed the dragons in fact nested on top of piles of trinkets and treasures; elder dragons lay upon larger piles with various riches, while young ones just old enough to start hunting had small collections mainly made up of rocks and objects they likely found interesting.

So the tales were true? Or was it just certain breeds of dragons? He also noticed that young dragons did not, in fact, pile together like he had assumed, so what the hell was up with Kirishima?

Once Kirishima was chatting with the elder about clues for where his weyr may have gone after he was separated from them, Bakugou turned to Tetsutetsu. "Oi, Ironhead. What's with all the weird nests and shit?"

Frowning at the moniker, Tetsutetsu crossed his arms. "What about them? They're nests."

"If they're nests, why the hell are they full of gold and shit? I thought it was just old wives' tales that said dragons did that crap."

Tetsutetsu laughed disbelievingly. "What gave you that idea? It's not fiction or any stretch of truth, it's _fact_. We dragons are hoarders, and we like valuable things, plain and simple."

"You sure it's not just your weyr? Because Shitty Hair doesn't do any of that, instead he just _somehow_ piles us together and sleeps on top of us."

"Really, Bakugou?" Ashido groaned from nearby. "You're _still_ on about that?"

"It's fucking annoying, of course I'm still on about it!"

"Wait," Tetsutetsu interrupted, looking baffled. "What do you mean Kirishima doesn't do that?"

"It means what it means! He rarely keeps any gold or treasure, and he sure as hell doesn't sleep on top of it, else I wouldn't wake up nearly every morning to him either drooling on me or snoring in my face! Since I haven't seen any other dragons besides him until now, it's pretty easy to assume I heard about them before that is bullshit!"

Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido all exchanged pondering looks then nodded in agreement.

"I haven't met any dragons that don't do that to some capacity so that's very weird. Oi, Kirishima!"

Kirishima and the elder paused their conversation, looking over at the others curiously.

"What's this guy saying about you not sleeping on treasure? You hit your head as a nestling or something?"

That earned a confused frown, Kirishima tilting his head before he understood just what it was Tetsutetsu was talking about. "Oh!" he laughed, making the same sheepish grin he had the last time Bakugou had confronted him about this. "Of course I sleep on treasure, I'm a dragon after all!"

"No you fucking don't, you fucking squash us under you!" Bakugou seethed, jerking an accusing finger at him.

"Well yeah, because you guys are my greatest treasure!"

Everyone went silent for several beats as Kirishima's words sunk in, then they all exploded; Bakugou a little more literally than the rest. "WHAT THE FUCK!" he bellowed, face red and small bursts of magic erupting from his palms unconsciously. Tetsutetsu and the elder both burst into laughter, Tetsutetsu clutching his stomach as he howled and slapped his knee. Sero beamed larger than usual, cheeks slightly pink. Kaminari and Ashido, meanwhile, both teared up.

"Kiri!" Kaminari exclaimed, running over to his friend and practically leaping on him. "You are too good for us!"

"So pure! What did we do to deserve such a sweet and gentle soul such as you!" wailed Ashido, joining Kaminari and effectively causing Kirishima to lose balance and fall over with the pair on top of him.

Kirishima laughed, but to Bakugou's irritation his eyes were beginning to water in response to Kaminari and Ashido's touched crying - he'd always been a sympathetic crier as long as Bakugou had known him. "Aw c'mon guys, I'm not that great! It's only the truth!"

"You shush your self-depreciating mouth."

Shaking his head, Sero went to join the cuddle pile, chucking. "Have we told you lately how much we appreciate you, Kiri?"

"Serooooo, don't you start, too!" Kirishima half-heartedly complained, face starting to redden, but nonetheless he found a way to squeeze the trap-maker in a hug with the other two.

"Bakugou, come join the Kirishima appreciation pile!"

"Yeah, you're part of his treasure too!"

"No, fuck off you sentimental weirdos," Bakugou griped, pointedly crossing his arms and turning away, likely to hide the blush on his face. The others could still see the back of his neck, however, and it was a very telling shade of red.

Smirking deviously, Tetsutetsu reached over and shoved the dragon rider, catching Bakugou off guard enough to have him stumble backwards into the pile, earning a cheer from the four idiots he reluctantly called friends.

"You-! Iron-fuckface, I will kill you!" he cursed, moving to get up, but his efforts were quickly halted by Ashido and Sero, who each wrapped an arm around his midsection. "Hey, you assholes! Fucking let me go!"

"Mmm, nope, sorry, you're trapped," Ashido chirped.

"Just let it happen, accept the love and appreciation."

"Ugh!" Letting out a huff, Bakugou stopped struggling, scowling up at the ceiling. "I fucking hate you all."

"Aww, that's not true, otherwise you wouldn't let us stick around so long!" Kirishima said, grinning so wide nearly all his sharp teeth were on display.

"Wrong, you dipshits just won't leave me the fuck alone and it's more trouble than it's worth to kill you."

"We love you too, Bakugou."

"Fuck off and die."

Later that night, they were offered separate places to sleep, but they all decided to sleep together. Bakugou insisted the reason he didn't take the offer was because it was impractical for him to sleep elsewhere when the rest of them were all together, then claimed the hollow they were given was stupid cold when they all piled together (of their own volition this time, after having decided to save Kirishima the subconscious effort now that they knew the reasoning behind his nightly habit). The other four simply rolled their eyes and let him believe whatever he wanted. If Bakugou put up much less complaint the next morning, none of them mentioned it...much.

[This fic was entirely inspired by this post (http(:\\\\)neruran.\tumblr.\com\post/167197363784/biggest-gaudiest-patronuses, just reverse the first 5 slashes and take out the brackets), because the moment I saw it I thought of the several fantasy AUs where Kirishima is a dragon (or part dragon, or something to that effect) and how Kirishima is a cinnamon roll who loves and appreciates his friends. I really ought to be working on other stuff, but I just had to get this out of the way.]/span/p


End file.
